The holy trinity in high school recruiting circles has always been Florida, Texas and California. It sounds like it may be time for the big three to make room for another:
The big surprise at the top of the 2015 Draft was Georgia. The Peach State shot right by California and Texas to finish with the second-most draft prospects at 30. Of late there has certainly been a slow and steady climb in the numbers regarding their production in college and NFL players. Georgia has been a solid No. 4 for about a decade or so, but is steadily gaining on the big three…
… Georgia, with a population of 10.1 million, had the highest number of 2015 drafted players per capita at 2.97/million.
… If you go strictly by the states that produced the top 10 draftees in 2015, looking specifically at the total high school football playing numbers, the order would look like this:
Florida (111.4)
Georgia (90.91)
Alabama (60.87)
Maryland (53.3)
Pennsylvania (34.6)
California (25.2)
North Carolina (25)
Ohio (21.7)
Texas (17)
Illinois (14.9)
So the surprise shouldn’t be all the other schools who come to Georgia trying to poach local talent. Nor is it that Georgia can’t close the borders – too many kids, after all.
What I can’t figure out is why in the hell Georgia Tech can’t recruit big time in state. That’s not just a triple option issue, as recruiting under Gailey wasn’t exactly Chantastic, either.
(h/t)
Get The Picture 
“What I can’t figure out is why in the hell Georgia Tech can’t recruit big time in state.”
Because everything about their campus and facilites suck?
Honestly, I was working downtown a few weeks ago, and the Georgia Tech campus has all the charm of a late 80s Soviet apartment building.
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Let’s not forget about the prospect of playing for Tech–getting all fired up pregame for their only sellout home-game of the year against your in-state rivals–and running out of the tunnel into a sea of red.
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Their campus isn’t bad. Comparatively speaking, it’s a really nice and good location for an urban campus.
Actually, in the late 80s, the comparison to the late 80s Soviet Russia would have been more appropriate.
I think it has more to do with playing in a large, high school stadium in front of many empty seats than anything else.
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The location isn’t bad (especially now that the westside of midtown is better known for artist studios like the Goat Farm and some good restaurants like Crooks & Soldiers, The Optimist, and Bone Lick BBQ) but there are a ton of buildings that look like they haven’t been updated since the 70s. You’d think a school that still brags about its architecture program would have some more updated buildings. Of course if they could do that, then they should have made a stadium you could walk all the way around without having to go to ground level, but high math SAT scores don’t always translate to “common sense design.”
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Chicks man…ain’t no chicks at Tech.
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But there’s plenty at Spelman. And Clark Atlanta.
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Agnes Scott, Baby. That’s where the pretty smart girls are. 💃🏄🏼
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You don’t want to know what we called it when I was an undergrad in the Classic City.
Let’s just say it wasn’t smart to repeat it in mixed company…
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Let me guess. Rhymes with s’anxious twat?
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You missed the “and” between “pretty” and “smart”. Dated our Fraternity Sweetheart who was at Agnes Scott and from Sanford, Fl. Pulled a groin muscle lifting the bumper after dates.
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Hey, my Grandmother graduated from Agnes Scott.,,
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I always thought you looked a little like Cojones!
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Hey mine did too. Grandmother and all Her and all her sisters. I did not go there. My Mother was a Majorette from there. She was very talented. 1950-52. And beautiful. I miss her so much. MUAH Mother 💃🎈
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As I have been saying for a while UGA has all the resources needed to when at a high level regularly. Any current coaching staff should not have their record compared to Dooley as a benchmark for their performance. demographics and resources have changed.
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It is the Academics at Tech. My Cousin Liston in Perry, Georgia has been offered a full ride to Texas A&M. He graduates this Saturday. Tech accepted him, but no $$$$$$. of course he will go to tech. Because it is in our Great State Of GEORGIA.. AND I need someone to bring me VARSITY food down here in Santa Rosa Beach. 🍔🐋🎈
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One or two coaches may have eaten there before leaving for the SEC meetings. Expect it there soon if it isn’t lost in midflight.
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Can’t deal with those Guys now. Two Men Friends have dogs that are dying. One is at FU’s Vet school as we speak prepared for surgery. Torn ACL. And the others heart is enlarged. The Deaton’s are at Navarre, and Liston’s Graduation on Saturday. Cannot talk to any Coaches until Monday. LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH AND PAIN FREE.🎈
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Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
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Its the recruiting triumvirate of recruiting deterrents: crappy campus, no chicks and antiquated offensive system. Then there is the ever present bs smokescreen of “academic rigor” that evaporates immediately when one realizes that Tech offers many of the same kids that UGA does.
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Fish Fry can get anyone into Tech he wants. That said, who would want to play for Fish Fry? That’s Tech’s real problem. I hate it that CMR self-destructed at the end of last year’s Tech game and gave that asshole FF bragging rights for a year. 12-2 during CMR’s era is good but 13-1 is waaaaay better.
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Some better tackling in the 3rd quarter in 2008 and it’d be 14-0…
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Here, here.
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I hate that you can’t remember any other plays at the end of the game that contributed to the loss. You are giving ad nauseum a good name.
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You know, Mayor’s are always Jokers. J. O. K. E. 🎈
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The complaint by fans isn’t that the borders aren’t closed, it’s that we don’t bat over .500 with the very top tier. Here are the last 5 years showing how many of the top 5 we got, who the top recruit was, and his national ranking. All rankings from ESPN:
2015: 2 of 5, Trenton Thompson UGA, #3 nationally
2014: 2 of 5. Raekwon McMillan OSU, #13 nationally
2013: 1 of 5, Nkemdeche and Carl Lawson went Ole Miss and Auburn respectively and were #1 and #2 nationally
2012: 2 of 5, Clemmons UGA, #17 nationally
2011: 3 of 5, Crowell UGA, #4 nationally
2010: 1 of 5 and 2 of top 10, Storm Johnson Miami, #22 nationally
In all honesty, it’s hard to spin the above positively.
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Only thing I would be interested in would be what % of those guys are USC, Texas, and Florida hitting at. UGA is getting 30% of the top 5 guys in the state each year. that actually seems pretty good.
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We don’t get many honest confess…uh..confessions here from techsters. Thanks.
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How many top recruits have we stolen from other states? Richt has done pretty good at raiding the border states (and beyond). Murray, Green, Theus, Stafford, Marshall, Gurley, Michele to name a few. It balances out in the end. Look at where the overall class ranking is. Consistently in the top 10
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ESPN’s rankings are a joke.
247 Composite:
2015- 3 of 5 (Trent Thompson)
2014-3 of 5 (Lorenzo Carter)
2013- 0 (Nkemdeche)
2012- 3 of 5 (JHC)
2011-3 of 5 (Crow)
2010- 2 of 5 (Da’Rick Rogers)
2009- 2 of 5 (Branden Smith) * Jarvis Jones came later making it 3 of 5
16 of 35 of the top 5 players going to one school (plus one transferring in later) can’t be ‘spun’ positively?
How about this:
USC kept 15 of 35 from the top 5 in Cali
Texas kept 12 of 35
FSU kept 11 of 35
UF kept 7 of 35
Only two times (out of 35 possible) was one school able to recruit 4 of the top 5 in the same year.
I think fans expectations of what success should look like in state is skewed by states with less talent.
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And I think we had 7 out of the top 10 this past year, with the OL guy going to Clemson because of a family legacy, and the RB going to Oregon.
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According to 247, 5 of the top 10 in GA committed to UGA in 2015.
If you believe the rumors, UGA could actually land most of the top 5/10 in the state this year.
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But…but…we gotta sign everyone in the state! Lock down the borders!!
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So….which one of you wants to tell Jacob Eason that we are going to rescind his scholarship offer in order increase the number of recruits from the state of Georgia?
Thought so….
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People have VERY short memories
Eason- Washington
Stafford- Texas
Murray, Theus, Michel, Charles- Florida
Gurley, Marshall- North Carolina
Moreno-New Jersey
Green-South Carolina
I’m sure I’m missing many others
I’m sure the fans in those states are screaming for their coaches to lock down the borders as well
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